Different paper qualitys-better image ?

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Coley.

Bryant Gumble
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Morning all,

Im just coming to the end of my a3 paper supply. Usually ive just opted for a semi cheap source (£20ish for 50 sheets), but am wondering if paying more (say £1 a sheet) is gonna make any considerable difference to picture quality. I would say the pictures arent going to be under close scrutiny but if decent paper will further improve the image quality i'd be willing to try.

I've always used gloss paper in the past, but think i might opt for matt and maybe satin this time. What do you guys and gals use ? Ive got a Epson r1400 with a permajet cis system. Im just looking up above the monitor and there's a picture ive printed with my printer, and beside it a picture ive had done at a Tesco photo machine type place- the Tesco version is looking much better where as my version has faded considerably- Could this be also down to cheaper paper :shrug: or just a poorer grade ink ?

Looking forward to your thoughts- might have to have another go creating icm.......? :thinking: profiles when i get a new batch of paper :naughty:


Thanks

Coley
 
paper can make a difference to sharpness and can have an effect of longevity of the print. the type of print from tesco will last longer than the dye ink you get in the R1400
 
Pigment inks will last longer than dye inks. I have images from my 2880 that have been in full daylight, including summer sun now for over two years with no visible signs of fading. However if you store your prints in albums or print boxes they will last a lot longer.

If you go to the Wilhelm institute web site ( They do permanence testing on various ink jet media) It seems that the type of ink you use has a major effect on overall permanence. Compare the effect that it has on image life on the same paper with Canon Epson and HP inks you'll see it's shows some significant differences. Have a look at the report on Canson Infinity papers

I found this report on the R1400 you might find useful
Have a look for yourself

http://www.wilhelm-research.com/epson/SP1400.html

Now whilst all three Epson papers seemed to have a similar life, If you have a look at some of the other tests you cab see that different papers have different fading characteristics even with the same inks

You might also like to take a look at this

http://www.wilhelm-research.com/dpn/dpn.html

Paper choice is something you need to decide on yourself. But you might like to try using Epson papers with your printer and see if you get better print life
 
If you are using the Permajet CIS then why are you not using their paper and taking advantage of their free print profiling?
 
Thanks for all the replies folks :thumbs:

So basically, poor printer paper can result in poor quality prints.
Chappers, those links are very interesting. Just by changing the paper it can increase the likelihood of 3rd party inks from fading up to 3 times :eek:

Alan Maughan said:
If you are using the Permajet CIS then why are you not using their paper and taking advantage of their free print profiling?
Click to expand...

He he, cause me being a skin flint bought a big bulk of photo paper before i had the cis system installed :naughty: - after about 3 years my supply has dwindled down to just 3 sheets. Buying the permajet paper would definitely be an option- depending on the outcome of this thread ;) I deliberately chose a more expensive cis system as my last £30 ebay purchase didnt do any favours to my epson r200. Permajet seemed to get good reviews- little did i realise using poor paper would effect the overall outcome of the image- papers paper right ? :$ Its white, its not creased and it fits- ticked all the boxes, or so i thought :hug:

Coley
 
what do you mostly print? snap shots, shots for the wall etc

I use a mixture of gloss and Fibre based paper. I'm also a fan of the jet master system.
 
Since getting my first dslr and grasping a basic understanding of it :wave: im printing mostly pictures of friends and family. Today i took several of my niece out in the field feeding baby lambs, riding around on her quad bike etc. I only really give the prints out to friends and family. My family are very much in the mindset of bigger is better, so any picture they really like gets exploded A3- personally i think they should just visit the optician :lol:

Ive been using some A4 satin paper today, which compared to full on gloss seems to look much more appealing- reminds me of my school photos, same texture, a little more classy perhaps. Maybe im just going wrong buying bulk all the time and i should just get a couple different brands to try. The majority of people i give my pictures to wouldnt even consider the paper its printed on- infact alot of them dont even notice when ive missed focus, or got major noise issues from trying to rescue the raw files :exit: :cool:

Atleast now i know that the paper can severely affect the over outcome.

simonkit said:
I use Ilford Smooth pearl, great paper at a reasonable price - it has a lustre finish

Simon
Click to expand...
Thanks Simon- this is on my list of papers to try. The name sounds almost magical, so im dying to see what the qualities like.

Guess what im after now is somewhere that sells several different brands so i can save on postage. With the permajet cis it came with a sample pack of papers. This might seem silly but i reckon i'd need to try atleast 10 of each different paper so i can get a feel as to which is my favourite. Is there a general rule for using certain papers for different types of shot- like for school photos i only seem to remember having satin type paper, certificates matt etc

Theres a good chance i might be thinking too much about this :p

Thanks for the insight

Coley
 
If you find a paper that you like then buy it in bulk for cheapness.

Most companies do trial packs too
 
POAH said:
what do you mostly print? snap shots, shots for the wall etc

I use a mixture of gloss and Fibre based paper. I'm also a fan of the jet master system.
Click to expand...

Wow :eek: I just googled 'jet master system' - it would be perfect for the type of pictures i take. I bought some permajet canvas's a while back (400 gsm i think) but had major major issues getting it to load. In the end i admitted defeat and put it in a box to be forgotten about. Do you have any issues with the canvas loading correctly in the printer ? Im thinking a thinner canvas might help get over the loading issues. If i could get this to work it would simply be amazing. - Just gave a couple canvas's away to family and they cost over £60 :whistling:

I've found Ilford Smooth pearl paper on ebay. £28 delivered for 25 a3 sheets seems very reasonable so i'll be waiting patiently for that to arrive :cool:

Coley
 
Innova do a paper specially for the jet master system. I've used 380gsm canvas with I and it's a bit too thick.


For loading canvas I use scotch tape to stick a bit of gloss paper to the end and the printer can grab that perfectly well then feeds he canvas though after that with no problems. My R2400 would not catch on to canvas on its own
 
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